I'm Fine, Thanks.

I had my first over-40 physical today.  It wasn't as bad as the photo above.

I had a nice brisk walk there, and there was no wait, shockingly.  The PA who took my blood pressure said it was borderline high, to which I replied, "I hope so.  I just walked six blocks and up three flights of stairs - I'd worry if it wasn't on the high side." 

Funny how you build certain things up in your head, but it turns out to be pretty minor.  Take the prostate exam, for example.  After dreading the ol' digit-up-the-rectum party (having experienced it at the [ahem] hands of a crusty--and creepy--old urologist when I was twenty), it turns out my doctor doesn't worry about a prostate cancer test unless something funny shows up in the blood panel, for which I will return later this week.  And even then, it's another blood test, not the greasy finger.

Well color me pleasantly surprised.

Until he said he wanted to freeze and/or burn some skin tags off.  Which meant some liquid nitrogen in the junkular area, and three shots of lidocaine and an electrocautery zapper in my armpit.  Thank goodness I didn't have time to build THAT up in my head, huh?

So the bottom line is, aside from dropping the twenty pounds I knew I'd need to lose, and pending the walk-in blood panel which will tell us cholesterol and thyroid levels, I'm in good shape for a 41 year old dude who's had his ass kicked by life a few times, and whose armpits feel like they've been worked over by a couple Russian sailors.

Tomorrow I start with my own personal therapist.  After managing a family dynamic and the grief counseling of two kids, I'm going to work on my emotional engine for a bit.  Call it a New Year's resolution.  Call it an emotional tune-up.  Call it whatever you'd like.  The long and short of it is that I believe in being the best father and husband I can be, and that means keeping everything in working order.  And the last thing I need is figurative rats in my proverbial engine compartment.

On a totally different topic, this site rocks.